and by all accounts, the gop rival held his own and then some. the vice presidential debate between president obama and mitt romney didn't showcase high drama or any water cooler zingers. instead it was substantive and gave americans a better look at the candidates and their differing paths. a major key issue including taxes, medicare and the biggie, jobs. with live team coverage of the debate and how it's being received we begin with steve handelsman in denver. >> reporter: jessica, thanks. here in denver tonight, mitt romney knew he had to bring his a-game. most of those who watched figured that's what he did. the pressure was on mitt romney who needed a turnaround tonight. president obama came into the debate ahead in every battleground state. with an estimated 60 million americans watching on tv, cable and the web, moderator tjim

hehrer asked, can you put more people to work. >> he would cut regulations and taxes on small businesses. >> my priority is jobs. so what i do is i bring down the tax rates. >> governor romney's proposal that he has been promoting for 18 months calls for a $5 trillion tax cut. >> reporter: which the president claimed would help the rich at others 'expense. >> the average mittedle class family would pay about $2,000 more. >> everything he just said about my tax plan is inaccurate. >> it's not possible to coming up with enough deductions and loopholes that only affect high-income individuals to avoid either raising the deficit or burdening the middle class. it's math. it's arithmetic. >> reporter: on medicare and social security, one agreement -- >> neither the president nor i are proposing any changes for any current retirees or near retirees. >> reporter: in ten years, romney wants a private medicare option. >> aarp has said that your plan would weaken medicare

substantially. >> reporter: romney fired back in a major debate moment that the president weakened the economy by his focus on health care. >> i just don't know how the president could have come into office facing 23 million people out of work, rising unemployment and spend his energy and passion for two years fighting for obama care instead of fighting for jobs for the american people. >> we did work on this alongside working on jobs because this is part of making sure that middle class families are secure in this country. >> reporter: a substantial debate. no zingers. now come the polls to determine if romney got the gains he needs with voters. from denver, i'm steve handelsman, nbc bay area news. >> thank you steve. how did the debate play in the bay area? and did voters here like what the candidates had to say? monte francis watched the debate with a group of political science students. the president's own staff tonight said romney won the

debate when it came to style points gop the students there agree? >> for the most part, yes, they do agree. about 120 political sciences students came here to watch the debate along with some professors and some alumni. the general consensus was romney had a slight edge over the president in terms of his performance at the debate tonight. >> two rebuild america. >> more effective. more charismatic. >> i will lower taxes on middle income families. >> governor romney held his own. actually, i was surprised. >> reporter: after the debate was over, even some of the president's biggest supporters in the room felt that romney had won. >> romney did a great job in presenting himself in like a very positive way. even though, like, the answers that obama gave were very pro democratic, pro public education. >> overall, romney, from my perspective, did a little bit better. he wasn't as specific as obama, but he set out to attack obama

more. >> this way it's his do or die moment. >> reporter: melinda jackson says romney had more to gain in tonight's debate. and while the president's debate performance was solid, the president had more to lose. >> i think romney did his job tonight. i think he gave a solid performance. he was confident. he was polished. >> reporter: now bunot everyone in the room saw it that way. >> i think romney cut off the moderator a number of times. he kept cutting off president obama. i think he didn't have any solid points. >> reporter: at times, the two men appeared to be battling over the facts or numbers which professor jackson says is confusing for the average voter. but she says the debate is also about how voters feel about the candidate. and that's where she says romney gained ground. counteracting the image of the out of touch rich guy which has plagued him throughout his campaign. >> coming across as caring and sympathetic and trustworthy was

something that romney needed to do, and i think that he did do a good job. >> reporter: professor jackson predicts that romney will get a slight bump in the polls after this debate. and where that really matters is in those swing states where the two men are separated by only a couple of percentage points. live in san jose, monte francis, nbc bay area news. perhaps the harshest performance criticism of the night is being aimed at debate moderator jim lehrer who at times struggled to wrangle the candidates. he even got stung by mitt romney. >> so i'll get rid of that. i'm sorry, jim. i'm going to start the subsidy to pbs. i'm going to start other things. i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. so that's number one. >> the big bird moment took off on twitter. 17,000 tweets per minute for big bird. and 10,000 tweets per minute for pbs. now for continuing coverage from

tonight's debate go to nbcbayarea.com. we've posted the full debate as well as analysis from political experts. nbc bay area.com. now the vice presidential candidates will square off october 11th. of course, zeiwe'll have that f you as well. man on the track, police foot race and a shooting. it led to confusion for cal train riders heading out of san jose tonight. it happened just after 5:00 today near the deradon cal train station. george kiriyama joins us with more. >> reporter: passengers riding cal train tonight experienced up to a 45-minute delay because of this involve-involved shooting here on these tracks. buses were brought in to help shuttle these riders. take a look at this view from our chopper. it shows the aftermath. about 400 yards north of the train station, san jose police

tell us a man managed to get on the track. investigators say he would not cooperate with deputies so the officers who chased him after this short foot chase, police say the man came at them with a metal spike. the deputy thought he was in danger and fired several rounds. the man was hit twice. >> at a certain point, if an officer believes his life or his health and safety is in danger or that of his fellow officers and the suspect is actively arming himself, the officer obviously felt threatened and did wh he had to do to protect himself. >> this man was taken to valley med with nonlife threatening injuries. it's unclear whether he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or if he had a mental illness. the officers involved in the shooting are being interviewed and normal train service was resumed in the evening. george kiriyama, nbc bay area news. staying in the south bay where they are taking a stand tonight. hundreds gathered to pray for peace at our lady of guadalupe

church. they formed a prayer chain and called for an end to the violence that's engulfed their neighborhood in recent months. organizers say the violence is even taking place right outside the church. >> this is just a start. we have formed a committee. it's called a peace committee for -- it's a committee for peace. and we are just really concerned because there's been a lot of violence in our community in this part of the city. matter of fact, we have a lot of parishioners that have lost a loved one. >> since the start of the year, san jose police have investigated 34 homicides. people gathered at the church this evening say they want to send a message to the community that together they can stop the violence. the jury just couldn't reach a verdict. a mistrial in the case against a former san francisco crime lab tech accused of stealing drugs. deborah madden faced federal charge of skimming cocaine from the city's crime lab back in 2009 by means of fraud and deception. those allegations led to the

closure of the lab and prompted prosecutors to dismiss hundreds of criminal cases. now jurors who were divided about the conviction say prosecutors just didn't prove that madden was deceptive. a retrial for the retired madden is a possibility that will be discussed at a hearing next week. well, there was a texas barbecue in oakland today with the a's giving fans a thrilling finish on the last day of the regular season. >> ball game. western division. the oakland a's have shocked the rangers and the baseball world. >> you heard it. the a's are now the american league western division champs. six months ago, baseball experts had just written them off. but the a's fooled them all. securing the title after a sweep of the texas rangers. up next, the detroit tigers. we turn to jean elle. boy, what a game. >> jessica, this is exactly what

a's fans have been dreaming about. a swing at the playoffs and, dare i say, the world series? fans tonight say they are ready for an exciting ride. >> i can't believe it. mom, they said we couldn't do it, we did it. >> the a's beat the rangers at a sold-out coliseum securing the top spot in the mesh league west heading into the playoffs. >> the oakland a's have shocked the rangers and the baseball world. >> this is better than '89. i was there in '89. this is way louder. this is something that came from nowhere to overcome. and it was awesome. it was just awesome. >> fans say going from 13 games back to the top of the heap feels like magic. life-long fan rudy salazar says he couldn't take his eyes off the field. >> i didn't go to the bathroom and i didn't have no beers. >> while players partied in the locker room, fans celebrated in

traffic and in the parking lot. >> let's go oakland. >> some are stunned the underdogs are on top. >> can you believe it? >> no. >> others are already dreaming of another world series ring. >> '72, '73, '74, '89 and 2012. >> because they are the best team in baseball, hands down. >> reporter: how about a battle of the bay? >> not happening. giants are going to lose to the nationals or the reds. >> and if it's oakland and san francisco? >> we're going to have another earthquake. >> earthquake! earthquake! >> reporter: however the ball bounces, the oakland athletics are shaking up baseball. >> unbelievable! >> and the a's have some down time before heading to detroit. the next home game here at the coliseum is on tuesday. at last check, tickets are still available. jean elle, nbc bay area news. it sounds great. just not another earthquake, please. later we'll have the game

times for the a's and giants this saturday, plus a big honor for buster posey. also coming up, a plea for help. a stolen puppy and a south bay little girl lead a city councilman to step in. important research for pregnant women. the medical condition that could lead to a lower iq for babies. and paying to promote. a new experiment for facebook. and good evening. i'm jeff ranieri. some major cooling for today. also that fog starting to come back from 107 in gilroy to 87. the radar scans around. a little moisture in the south bay. a sign of possibly some drizzle. we're tracking the fog and we'll have your full forecast coming up.

huge operation and a rude awakening. before the sun was even up, the s.w.a.t. team descended on the south bay carrying out several raids. one of them at an apartment complex near oak grove high school in south san jose. fbi agents arrested two men on federal drug charges. the agency says it's gang task force led the operation but it won't say if the suspects are part of a larger organized crime or gang. sources tell nbc bay area news the neighborhood is for parolees and lots of people on probation. today bay area relatives of ambassador chris stevens announced a special memorial service for the u.s. diplomat killed in libya last month. the ceremony will take place at san francisco's city hall october 16th. steven's family has invited a list of dignitaries, including george schultz and senator dianne feinstein. stevens grew up in the bay area attending piedmont high.

after, he went on to uc berkeley and uc hastings in san francisco for law school. the public is being invited to the service but you should know the city hall rotunda only holds about 700 people. stevens was just 52 years old. it was one thing when burglars took their jewelry. when they took the family puppy, a san jose city councilman stepped in. burglars first broke into melissa's home last summer. on monday her south san jose home was burglarized again. this time, though, the bad guys took her 10-year-old daughter's brand new puppy. the little yorkie mix. tonight the little girl has a message for those dog knappers. >> if you bring it back, that would mean the world to me. and i would be willing to give anything. you could have stolen anything from my room but just not my puppy. >> have a heart. get the puppy back. little marisa is offering her

piggybank as a reward along with $6,000 put up by the council member and san jose police and fire departments. today was day one of match qualifying at the america's cup world series taking place in the san francisco bay. and among the winners, team korea whose skipper is barely old enough to order a beer. nbc bay area's lauren scott got a chance to take a ride on the high seas and meet sailing's newest phenom. >> lauren scott on the bay with team korea and the youngest skipper by far in this america's cup world series. he's 21 years old. this guy is awesome. he started in his very first competition with a win today. and it just continues from here. wow. getting that win in your favorite race. how does it feel? >> pretty awesome to come away with a win. made it hard for ourselves.

>> you sailed around the world and in two olympics in china and then most recently in london where you won a silver medal. when it comes to sailing on the bay, what is that like for you? >> having such great competition and racing. a great breeze. one of the few places in the world. pretty much every day there's a good breeze to go sailing in. we're really enjoying it. >> thank you so much for having us on board. here on the bay, it couldn't get much better. really, it's a beautiful day for sailing. i'll tell you what. they'll keep doing it all the way through sunday. with all of our coverage here of the america's cup on nbc bay area. back to you in the studio. >> it looks cold out there. jeff, what's up? it was so warm inland. but out on the water there it looked chilly. >> temperatures dropping quite a bit. this onshore flow back.

that's what those america's cup boaters want. the fleet week forecast coming up as well. let's look at those temperatures. 101 in santa cruz down to 66. san francisco from 94 to 78. and it's a major cooling for you. here's the thing to keep in mind. the 66 in santa cruz will be dropping even colder as we head towards the upcoming weekend. no beach weather coming our way. even potentially upper 50s and low 60s by this weekend. speaking of the cool, it's happening right now. anywhere from 59 in santa rosa to low 60s in the bay area. this time last night, 80s in the bay area. now the natural ocean ac filtering in. 62 in danville. winds from 5 to 10 miles per hour. that's starting to push in some of this fog that we saw earlier today. let's get a look outside of our live hd sky camera. not too much in the way of fog from san bruno toward the bay bridge. however, visibility is getting reduced. in san francisco, a little bit of cloud cover pass by the lens.

and there it is right now. pushing right across the golden gate bridge. so that's going to dramatically change our picture for tomorrow morning. all right. back on the weather boards, what we'll find over the next 48 to 72 hours is this system we've been tracking for the past couple of days. it's pretty slow to move. no rainfall the next two to three days. it's all about the cooling breeze returning, pushing all that hot air we had well off to he north. primarily this will push at the coastline. instead of 70s, 80s and 90s. we'll go with 50s and 60s for thursday's forecast. as we head throughout friday, not only the fog but potentially drizzle toward the coastline with 70s and 80s for the interior valleys. numbers changing everywhere not only at the coastline but back across the east and the south bay. tomorrow morning, widespread fog into marin, napa and sonoma. and it's going to be one of those days where we don't clear out too much. especially at the coastline. the cloud cover increasing by 7:00 p.m. on thursday. from the north bay all the way

to the south bay. so definitely a much different picture than what we experienced earlier this week. as far as your overnight lows, 48 in santa rosa. 58 in livermore. also 55 in san jose. daytime highs on thursday should top out at 82 in san jose. going down a little bit here. 79 in palo alto. 78 in sunnyvale. also continuing to go down in the east bay. 84 in walnut creek. 81 in pleasanton and 84 in livermore. 20 degrees cooler in the east bay as compared to hotter weather. 69 in san francisco and 79 in berkeley. if you are doing anything in san francisco or the bay area this weekend, it's all about fleet week, america's cup and san fran giants. the forecast, will start off cloudy. clouds throughout the day and also remember that jacket. it's good for the america's cup. for fleet week, we may run into visibility issues on saturday and also sunday. by saturday, temperatures going lower inland with some 70s. by monday and tuesday, look at that, jessica. the chance of showers continuing

with a few spotty showers possible. i'm very excited about that, but i know many of you like the hot weather this past week. it is what it is. >> it's fall and time for us to transition. coming up, facebook's new experiment. and, guess what, it's going to cost you. ♪ just put a little bit of yourself ♪

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and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant a mother's high blood pressure could mean a lower iq for her baby. that's the finding of a new study published today in "neurology." researchers concluded that men whose mothers had high blood pressure during pregnancy had worse scores on arithmetic, reasoning and total cognitive ability. the study was done in finland and only looked at men. it's the first to draw a connection between hypertension and intelligence. if you use facebook you know the site is free. that is, unless you want to pay the social network to promote a picture or announcement. facebook is now testing out a new feature that lets you push a post to the top of your friend's

news feeds so they're more likely to notice it. all it takes is cash. about $7. the feature was released today to a small group of users in the u.s. businesses have already been able to pay facebook to insert sponsored stories into newsfeeds. this is the first time it's charging the average user to share information. sharing information on the a's for us tonight, henry joins us with a look at what's coming up in sports. >> hello. we've got a lot to talk about. they were supposed to lose 100 games. now the oakland a's sit atop the american league west. next in sports, we'll show you how the west was won. and we'll hear from the newly crowned champs. stay tuned. [ taste buds ] donuts, donuts, donuts!

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♪ nutty clusters and almonds, ♪ ♪ almonds. ♪ fiber one is gonna make you smile. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing new fiber one nutty clusters and almonds. with 43% daily value of fiber for you. crunchy nutty clusters and real almond slices for your taste buds. welcome back. the oakland a's celebrated after earning a ticket to the postseason on monday. two days later, they were back to celebrating again.

champagne, beer and big smiles. let's go out to the oakland coliseum. rangers and a's ended the regular season finale tied for first. winner is crowned a.l. west champ. bottom of the fourth. runners on second and third. coco crisp doubles to right. josh donaldson. game tied at five. two batters later, pops up the center. uh-oh. big problem for josh hamilton. misses the ball. crisp and steven drew score. 7-5. to the top of the ninth. two outs. balfour is not having it. this is the final out of the game. michael young made the out flying to center. the a's win, 12-5, coming back from 13 games behind the rangers on june 30 tot win the a.l. west on the last day of the season. >> i always believed we could do it. when we left texas it was going to be tough. i still kept believing. and it's just a fairy tale to

come home and do it on the last day in front of your home crowd. an awesome crowd out here today. it's unbelievable feeling right now. just feel the energy out here. it's crazy. >> as a team, as an organization, in the area, the bay area. and that's something they can't take from us. >> terrific. it's nice being anonymous here most of the year. then we were kind of worried about our routine being a little screwed up. >> that's how you treat your general manager. by the way, the a's will face the detroit tigers and this man, miguel cabrera in the playoffs. despite going 0 for 2 at the plate, miguel cabrera became the first player since carl yastrzemski in 1967 to win the triple crown. finished with a .330 batting average. 44 homers and 139 runs batted

in. giants at the dodgers for a final tune-up. tommy lasorda, wake up, big fella. you can't sleep at the game. vogelsong pitching. vogelsong, five innings pitched, two hits. up to of the fourth, buster posey grounds into a fielder's choice. marco scutaro scores. posey finished with a .336 batting average. he's your n.l. batting champ. adrian gonzalez with the single. ethier scores. dodgers, they go on to win, 5-1 your final. we have the times and days for both the giants and the a's. giants take on the reds at 6:37 on saturday at at&t. the a's play earlier in the day at 3:00 as they take on the tigers in motown. that will do it for now. jessica will be right back. ♪

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>> announcer: it's "the tonight show with jay leno," featuring rickey minor and "the tonight show" band. tonight, jay welcomes -- christina applegate. from "dancing with the stars," apolo anton ohno. the music of a fine frenzy,